This invention relates generally to stringed musical instruments and in particular to stringed musical instruments whose pitch may be continuously altered over some fixed range of pitch.
There are a number of stringed instrument available in which the strings are either plucked, struck or bowed. Most of these instruments are tuned before playing by adjusting the tension on the various strings which invariably pass over or through some kind of bridge. Instruments such as guitars and violins are fixed tuned according to some reference such as a pitch-pipe. When played the tension and/or length of the strings is shifted by pressing the strings against some fixed surface, typically using the frets as a guide.
R. Grawi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,856) provides a good example of a novel approach to the design of a multistringed instrument which gives good performance and may be amplified using an electro-acoustical transducer or pickup. However, even Grawi's invention stops short of providing continuously variable pitch.